Factors Contributing to the Effectiveness of School Social Work

Introduction

VI. Factors Contributing to the Effectiveness of School Social Work

In Section 6, the key factors contributing to the effectiveness of school social work are discussed. These include “role and

的訓練」、「學校社工的行政支援」、「學校社工 的人手比例」、「時間限制、個案數量及與學生工 作人員的協作」，和「學校社會工作的督導」。

Demsch, OʼConnor & Friedman(1972)提及有關 有 效 的 學 校 社 會 工 作 的 重 要 性 。 在 文 中 ， 他 們 認 為 有 效 的 學 校 社 會 工 作 可 為 學 校 中 有 困 難 的 兒 童

(Malfunctioning children)提供服務，社工透過有效地

運用兒童之學習經驗(Educational experience)，以幫 助兒童發揮其潛能。Dupper(2003)提出一些有效的 學校社工介入方法，輔以一些在美國推行的介入計 劃，服務不同的對象，例如處理憂鬱的學生、處理 有自殺傾向的學生、處理有逃課或缺課的學生、預 防校園欺凌的計劃和預防濫用藥物的方法。

不 少 地 方 也 反 映 學 校 社 會 工 作 所 面 對 的 挑 戰 。 在 美 國 ， 因 每 所 學 校 的 情 況 不 同 ， 難 以 統 一 地制定學校社工的角色(Kelly, 2008)。Altshuler &

Webb (2009)亦指出學校社工一般也會被低估曾作

出的努力，亦因一般人誤解社工之期望角色

( R o l e expectation)及欠缺特別的學校社工專業資歷，而缺

乏認受性(Legitimacy)，不被認為是一門專業。在臺 灣，胡中宜

(2011)指出如駐校的新進社工不能清楚

其職業的角色，將難以發揮真正效益。社工服務的 效果，會因有些學校要求社工執行佔據泰半時間的 行政事務而降低。他提出「學校行政主管是否妥善 運用這些外來的輔導人員(指學校社工)，讓其適才 適所，將是成敗關鍵。」在香港，不少前線社工反 映，他們不清楚自身的工作定位及角色，常被委派 參與不同與輔導無直接關係的工作。Tam & Mong

(2005)的研究中，提出不少學校社工也受角色的障礙 (Role strain)及身分模糊(Identity confusion)的影響，

而影響工作效能。從以上可見，學校社工如何看待 自身專業之角色，以及旁人對學校社工的角色之期 望，均對學校社工能否有效能地提供服務，有一定 的重要性。根據Higy, Haberkorn, Pope & Gilmore

(2012)，加強學校的管理層與學校社工之間互相了解

各自的角色和責任，有助鞏固提供予學生的服務。

positioning of school social workers”, “training of school social workers”, “administrative support of school social workers”,

“ratio of school social worker manpower”, “time constraints, caseload, and collaboration between students and staff”, and “su- pervision of school social work”.

Demsch, O’Connor and Friedman (1972) noted the impor- tance of effective school social work. They deemed effective school social work as the provision of services to malfunc- tioning children in schools. Social workers are expected to help these malfunctioning youth to develop their potential through effective use of the educational experience. Dupper (2003) proposed some effective school social work inter- vention approach in combination with some intervention programs implemented in the United States for different targets, such as dealing with students with depressive disor- der, suicidal tendencies, truancy or absence and formulation of programs for prevention of bullying at school and drug prevention methods.

School social work has been facing certain challenges in many different countries. In the United States, it is difficult to unify the role of social workers, due to different circum- stances of each school (Kelly, 2008). Altshuler and Webb (2009) also pointed out that the efforts school social work- ers put in are generally underestimated, since most people misunderstand the role expectations of a school social worker. Additionally, as school social workers are perceived to be lack of specific professional qualifications, it is hard for them to be recognized as a legitimate professional. In Taiwan, Wu (2011) pointed out that if new school-based social workers are not familiar with their professional role, it will be difficult to play a positive effect. The effectiveness of social service diminishes when some schools demand social workers to engage in administrative roles which take up much of their time. According to Wu (2011), “The school administration is the key to whether or not the external counselling personnel (referring to school social workers) are in the right place to provide appropriate guidance”.

Many front-line social workers in Hong Kong reflect that they are not familiar with their role and position, as they are often assigned to work unrelated to counselling. Tam and Mong (2005) also mentioned that school social workers may be subjected to stress and identity confusion, which in turn affect their work performance. In this sense, how school social workers see their professional role and others’ expec- tations of a school social worker are significant in deter- mining the effectiveness of service provision. According to Higy, Haberkorn, Pope and Gilmore (2012), it is important for school management to understand the mutual roles and

有學者在一文獻中分享他們訪問由學校聘請的 學校社工及由機構聘請的學校社工之研究結果。當 中，他們建議服務前

( P r e s e r v i c e )機會及服務中的

專業發展(In-service professional development)可 提升學校社工間之互相協作及支持(Bronstein, Ball,

Elizabeth, Wade-Mdivanian, & Anderson-Butcher,

2011)。翁毓秀 (2005)分享臺灣的例子，她指出社工

師(即社工

)本身訓練不足，會影響社工發展應有的

功能。她指出學校社會工作師(即社工

)本身未曾修

習一些與學校社會工作及青少年兒童發展等課程，

會影響專業的發揮應有的功能。

再者，學校社工的行政支援亦能影響提供服務 的效能，有文獻反映其重要性。翁毓秀(2005)指出 在臺灣，因教育體制的運作較為正式及標準化，社 工在缺乏行政支援下而需要花不少時間處理行政流 程，而限制了提供其他實際服務的空間。

學 校 社 工 的 人 手 比 例 ， 可 影 響 學 校 社 工 能 否 提供有效的服務。根據美國

N A S W S t a n d a r d s f o r S c h o o l S o c i a l Wo r k S e r v i c e s ( 2 0 1 2 )

描 述 有 關 建 議 的 人 手 比 例 ， 學 校 社 工 服 務 一 般 學 生 的 比 例 為

1:250，而服務有特殊需要的學生之比例應為1:50。

每個地方對學校社工的人手比例之標準的意見也不 同。

最後，有學者亦提出，時間限制及個案數量亦 能影響學校社會工作服務的質素。Teasley, Canifield,

Archuleta, Crutchfield & Chavis(2012)在美國的研

究中反映，時間限制(Time constraints)及個案數量

(Caseloads)是最常見阻礙學校社工提供有效的學校社

會工作服務。Liu(1997)在一個關於香港學校社工的 研究中指出，若不能改善工作時間的分配(一般的諮 詢服務與治療為本的工作)，這會阻礙社會工作者的 效能及發展。反而，與學校工作人員的協作(School

staff collaboration)、溝通(Communication)、合作 (Cooperation)、態度 (Attitudes) 為最有效促進學校社

工進行更有效的工作。

responsibilities of school social workers, in order to enhance the services provided to students.

Some scholars shared their indings from interviews with school social workers hired by schools and institutions. In particular, they recommended pre-service opportunities and in-service professional development to enhance collaboration and mutual support between the school and the social work- ers (Bronstein, Ball, Elizabeth, Wade-Mdivanian, and An- derson-Butcher, 2011). Weng (2005) pointed out social work specialists(i.e., social workers) in Taiwan are lack of training, in which affects the development and performance of social workers. She indicated that school social workers who have never taken up training courses related to school social work and youth and children development may not be able to func- tion professionally in the way they are supposed to.

Furthermore, the administrative support of school social workers can also affect the effectiveness of services provid- ed. Weng (2005) suggested that, as the educational system in Taiwan is relatively formal and standardized, social workers need to spend a considerable amount of time to deal with administrative processes due to the lack of administrative support, thus limiting the opportunities for providing other practical services.

The staffing ratio of school social workers affects whether effective services can be provided. According to the recom- mended staffing ratio described in the Standards for School Social Work Services (2012) of the United States National Association of Social Workers, the ratio of every school so- cial worker serving general students is 1:250, while the ratio for serving students with special needs is 1:50. However, dif- ferent schools may have different views on the staffing ratio of school social workers.

Finally, some scholars suggested that time constraints and caseloads may also influence the quality of social work services available in schools. Teasley, Canifield, Archuleta, Crutchfield and Chavis (2012) stated that time constraints and caseloads are the most common factors identified as hin- dering the provision of effective school social work services.

Liu (1997) indicated in a study on Hong Kong social work- ers that, the failure of efficient work distribution (general counselling services and therapy-based works) may hinder the performance and development of social workers. On the other hand, school staff collaboration, communication, coop- eration, and attitudes may most effectively facilitate produc- tive school social work.

根 據2 0 0 3年 的 澳 洲 學 校 社 會 工 作 的 標 準 ， 澳 洲社會工作組織(Australian Association of Social

Workers)

於2011年發表一文件，文中指出學校社工

可以透過督導的協助，反映學校社工自己本身的工 作及介入手法之合適度及效率。學校社工亦可透過 定期參與督導，發展自身的技巧及知識，並了解專 業的要求，以及了解組織上、社會上、經濟上和政 治上與自身工作相關的情況。

I l l i n o i s S t a t e B o a r d o f E d u c a t i o n ( 2 0 0 7 ) 有

相 類 似 的 看 法 ， 他 們 指 出 專 業 及 行 政 的 督 導

(Professional and administrative supervision)，有

助學校社工提供一個既有效率，亦有效能的服務予 學校的持分者如學生及家長，有助學校社會工作計 劃達到計劃之目標。

七、研究方法

首先，這是一項初步研究，探討前線的學校社 工如何看待自己的角色，以實現香港學校社會工作 服務的最終目標。值得一提的是，學校社會工作服 務檢討工作小組(1999)於後期進行的工作當中，並沒 有研究顯示有關作者曾經探討學校社會工作的角色 和功能。希望這項初步研究對未來大型研究的方向 範疇上有所幫助。

研究對象

這項研究是由十六位香港前線的學校社工(十位 為中學社工、六位為小學社工)為青少年提供服務時 所得的工作經驗的定性分析。其社工的經驗可以為 讀者提供第一手的資料，這些資料是有關社工介入 的服務以及他們對這些措施成效的看法。每位參加 研究的受訪者背景資料載於表4。

研究採取了立意和滾雪球抽樣方法(Purposeful

and snowball sampling)。如表4所顯示，十三名女性

和三名男性受聘自五個不同的非政府組織，他們任 職學校社工的年期介乎二至十六年不等。所有社工 都是香港本地院校的大學畢業生，獲得社會工作本

According to the Australian Standards for School Social Work in 2003, the Australian Association of So- cial Workers released a document in 2011 specifying that through supervision, school social workers can reflect on the appropriateness and efficiency of their work and intervention approach. School social workers can also strengthen their skills and knowledge through regular supervision. In addition, they can understand the profes- sional requirements of a social worker and gain insight into organizational, social, economic, and political situa- tions related to their work.

The Illinois State Board of Education (2007) shared a similar view. They pointed out that the professional and administrative supervision is able to help school social workers to provide effective and efficient services to school stakeholders such as students and parents, thereby achieving school social work goals.